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backed out of an acquisition agreement and instead was purchased by Boston Scientific Corp.Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of $1.05, on sales of $14.44 billion.

Sales totaled $15.04 billion, up nearly 16 percent from $12.99 billion a year earlier."We view this quarter as a very strong one," analyst Glenn Reicin of Morgan Stanley wrote in a research report.However, Reicin and analyst Steve Brozak of WBB Securities both said J&J needs more mergers or acquisitions to ensure growth.New concerns about the safety and effectiveness of J&J's Cypher and other drug-coated stents — tiny metal scaffolds that prop open arteries and slowly release medicine to keep them open — cut J&J's sales more than 25 percent to $503 million dollars.

That hurt revenues in the medical devices and diagnostics division, which edged up 6 percent to $5.32 billion.Brozak said more and more medical journals have been publishing reports indicating drug-coated stents are "not the optimal solution" for clogged arteries."...

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